Speeding Because a Police Car Was Following Too Closely
My question involves police conduct in the State of: NC
I know someone who got a speeding ticket this week. The officer told her he had noticed her carelessly pulling out of a gas station and followed her "to see how fast she would go". She became aware of him when she turned off the highway into her neighborhood. She said he got right behind her, riding her bumper. She did not realize he was a cop and sped up to get him off her bumper. He followed her several blocks and stopped her. Gave her a ticket for 50 mph in a 35 zone.
I had my share of tickets and then some in my younger and wilder days. But no officer ever rode my bumper like that. They only pulled close as they hit their blue lights. It seems to me the officer was forcing her to speed so he could give a ticket. Following too closely is a chargeable offense in this state and is often charged in rear end collisions.
Also, the officer put the wrong date on the ticket and wrote 50 mph in a 35 zone. The zone is 25, not 35.
I think she has a good chance of getting this dismissed. Other opinions?
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
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Russ
I think she has a good chance of getting this dismissed.
I don't.
When somebody rides your bumper YOU SLOW DOWN and let him go around you, you don't speed up.
And clerical errors on a citation can easily be corrected.
Besides, would she rather have been cited for 50 in a 25 zone? That's gotta be worse fines than 50 in a 35 zone.
Tell her to take traffic school if she's eligible. She's not going to win this.
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Russ
It seems to me the officer was forcing her to speed so he could give a ticket.
No.
That was her decision.
He had nothing to do with it.
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
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adjusterjack
I don't.
When somebody rides your bumper YOU SLOW DOWN and let him go around you, you don't speed up.
And clerical errors on a citation can easily be corrected.
Besides, would she rather have been cited for 50 in a 25 zone? That's gotta be worse fines than 50 in a 35 zone.
Tell her to take traffic school if she's eligible. She's not going to win this.
No.
That was her decision.
He had nothing to do with it.
Yet if she had slammed on brakes and he hit her, he could have been charged with following too closely, right? I just don't see his actions as proper police procedure. She asked him why he'd ridden her bumper and he said "to see how fast you would go". Provocative if I ever heard it. If someone rode his bumper on the road, he'd probably stop and give a ticket for it wouldn't he?
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
Slammed on her brakes? Who suggests that.
She needed to simply remain at a legal speed or simply pull over and let the guy go by.
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
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Russ
Yet if she had slammed on brakes and he hit her, he could have been charged with following too closely, right? I just don't see his actions as proper police procedure. She asked him why he'd ridden her bumper and he said "to see how fast you would go". Provocative if I ever heard it. If someone rode his bumper on the road, he'd probably stop and give a ticket for it wouldn't he?
That entire paragraph is rather a silly rant.
She wouldn't have had to "slam on her brakes." At the very least all she had to to was take her foot off the gas and the car would have slowed down by itself.
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
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adjusterjack
That entire paragraph is rather a silly rant.
She wouldn't have had to "slam on her brakes." At the very least all she had to to was take her foot off the gas and the car would have slowed down by itself.
With someone riding her bumper, how would she know he wouldn't hit her?
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
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Russ
With someone riding her bumper, how would she know he wouldn't hit her?
She is free to try to convince a judge that if she didn't speed, she would have been rear-ended. Good luck with that one.
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
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adjusterjack
I don't.
When somebody rides your bumper YOU SLOW DOWN and let him go around you, you don't speed up.
And clerical errors on a citation can easily be corrected.
Besides, would she rather have been cited for 50 in a 25 zone? That's gotta be worse fines than 50 in a 35 zone.
It is a higher fine... but only by about $20 or so. ($30 base fine for up to 15 over; $50 for more than that, plus about $200 in court costs)
And there is no option for traffic school to avoid points/waive a traffic ticket in North Carolina; there's instead something called a PJC (prayer for judgment continued), which is like a AJD or a deferral in other states. A ticket for 50 in a 25 is just inside the cut-off where a PJC is allowed. PJC's, though, carry their own peculiarities, namely that you're only allowed one for insurance purposes in a three-year period per household and two per five years for the DMV's point system... plus, if you violate the terms of the PJC, you can have the fine and points imposed for it.
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
I can't believe the responses here. An officer of the law does something the driving regulations prohibit and all the criticism I hear is on her. I thought this was a general legal forum. Is it a hangout for rogue cops?
Re: Officer Riding Bumper
Nobody said what the cop did was right but that does not absolve the op from their illegal activity. One is taught to slow down and allow a person tailgating to pass or pull over if need be. Speeding to attempt to get away from them is not the proper action and as seen in this case, resulted in the op getting a speeding ticket so she never did get away from the tailgater.